99 luftballoons

According to Cnn, VH1 Classic will present a full hour of the English and German music videos for the 1984 hit "99 Luftballons," aka "99 Red Balloons," by German rock group Nena. I first heard this song in German at retro night at the box wednesday nights in Auckland.

The music video presentation, to air Sunday US time, caps off the cable channel's "Pay to Play for Hurricane Katrina Relief," which raised over $200,000 for Mercy Corps, a humanitarian relief organization.

Viewers could request one video to be played on VH1 Classic for every $25 donation. For a $35,000 donation, they could select an hour's worth of music videos from the 1960s through the early 1990s.

However, one viewer chose something different for his allotted hour, requesting continuous playing of "99 Luftballons," said VH1 spokeswoman Maura Wozniak. This is brilliant. I have all the renditions of this song from rock to techno, German and English. I will plan on viewing this brilliant episode. Way to go $35,000 punter.

"99 Luftballons" is a Cold-War era protest song that tells the story of 99 red balloons floating into the air, triggering an apocalypse when the military sends planes to intercept them. There is something about Captain Kirk in there too.